‘It changed my life’: Why you should walk the world’s greatest pilgrimage

Here’s how to tackle the most famous of them all: the Camino de Santiago

The Plaza del Obradoiro is quite the place. Dominated by the Catedral de Santiago de Compostela’s exuberant west facade – all filigree, statuary and spires – this square marks the end of the Camino de Santiago, Europe’s great medieval pilgrimage. A journey that started dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of miles away. Stand on these well-worn flagstones and you’ll see pilgrims shuffle in, look up, break down – tears of agony, relief, exhaustion, exaltation. Or not. “I once arrived at the square at the same time as an American doctor,” recalls Reverend Sandy Brown, author of Cicerone’s Camino guides. “He looked up at the cathedral and his first words after walking hundreds of kilometres were, ‘Wow, this place really needs a good pressure wash’.”
Ah, the Camino. Followed by those seeking faith, fun and/or epiphany, it’s all things to all people. But is that too many people? In 1984, just 423 pilgrims claimed their compostela (certificate of completion). In 1994, that had risen to 15,863; in 2004, 179,944; in 2014, 237,882. Last year it hit 440,367 – and numbers for 2024 are currently 12.5 per cent up. News stories are citing disrespectful pilgrim behaviour. The over-tourism epidemic seems to have spread to the Camino.
However, the reality beyond the headlines is more nuanced. José Antonio Liñares, the chairman of the Santiago Hotel Association, reckons “tourismophobia is in fashion in Spain”. Camino legend Johnnie Walker, who lives in Santiago and has written numerous Camino books, agrees. “It’s the Camino’s turn to be given the ‘silly season’ treatment by the press,” he says. “There’s always been the risk of theft, vandalism and drunkenness on the Camino. This has been blown out of all proportion. Some pilgrims do stupid things just as some holidaymakers do stupid things.”
English-speaking Camino associations have asked Walker to draft a code of conduct, to reinforce how pilgrims should behave. “A pilgrim expects nothing and is grateful for everything,” it declares, and requests pilgrims “respect local people, other pilgrims and the route itself”. However, English-speaking pilgrims are in the minority – in 2023, 44 per cent were Spanish. Overcrowding headlines often emerge in high summer, when numbers of local holidaymakers, school groups and religious associations peak.
At all times, congestion is worst on the last 100km (62 miles) of the popular Camino Francés (French Way); this is the minimum distance required to earn a compostela. Walk other parts of the Francés, or alternative routes, and the trail can be surprisingly quiet. 
“Overcrowding tends not to be about there being too many people walking the Francés – after all, it’s 800km long – but about availability of accommodation within particular sections,” says Mark Cavanagh, a trustee of the UK’s Confraternity of St James. “Walk outside the busy sections and accommodation seems to be plentiful.”
Authors Anne Buist and Graeme Simsion have walked the Camino more than once; it inspired the couple to write the Camino novel Two Steps Forward. “We hear frequently from pilgrims and haven’t had a sense that the Camino is being over-touristed. Busy, yes; damaged, no,” Graeme says. “The spirit of walkers seems not to have suffered – most seem to be walking with a generous, considerate mindset; it’s only in the last 100km where it gets really crowded with people just out to do the minimum: sometimes they can bring an attitude which differs from that of the long-distance pilgrims.”
Perhaps more than any other route, the Camino is defined by those who walk it, each person bringing their own purpose and baggage. “Many times I have seen people at the beginning of a Camino self-define as a tourist and finish as a pilgrim,” concludes Walker. “While the Camino is different in many ways than it was 20 years ago, it remains a wonderful and potentially transformational experience.”
Want to tackle the Camino de Santiago yourself? Here is my guide to planning your own pilgrimage. 
The Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage to St James’s tomb, kept in the crypt of Santiago de Compostela’s magnificent cathedral. The apostle died in Jerusalem in AD 44 but was allegedly buried in north-west Spain. His body was lost, and then rediscovered in the ninth century. A church was built, Santiago grew around it, pilgrims began flooding in. 
The Camino isn’t one route, it is legion. Ways of St James spider across Europe. Pilgrims can follow scallop-shell markers (the saint’s traditional symbol) from points as distant as Seville, Lisbon, Geneva and Reading. That said, many only walk the minimum required to earn a compostela: the last 100km into Santiago, or 200km if cycling.
Just as in the Middle Ages, Santiago is the continent’s principal place of pilgrimage, thanks in large part to a local priest who made it his mission to waymark the Camino Francés in the 1980s. In 1993 the “Routes of Santiago de Compostela” were declared a Unesco World Heritage Site. Now, amid a resurgence in the popularity of pilgrimage, nearly half a million people are walking it each year. 
There are many long-distance hikes you can do. Pilgrimage – especially the Camino – isn’t the same. The Australian filmmaker Bill Bennett walked the Francés in 2013 and, in spring 2024, released a movie about his experience, The Way, My Way. In it, one of the walkers is asked, what makes a pilgrim? The reply: “You have to walk with your heart open.” A pilgrimage isn’t simply taking in nice scenery, it’s travelling with intention, and an appreciation of the centuries of footsteps in which you tread.
“Many pilgrims go because of their faith and want to observe the traditional religious practices along the way. There are others who simply see it as a long hike through beautiful countryside and gastronomy. But in fact we find that most modern pilgrims fall somewhere in the middle,” says Mark Cavanagh, a trustee of the Confraternity of St James. “The Camino is a much-needed opportunity to get away from the busyness and stress of your everyday commitments, where you can clear your head and be with your own thoughts. The opportunity to mix with people from all over the world is also a real draw. The Camino attracts all types of people and walking together can be incredibly bonding. And what people love most about the Camino is the simplicity. Living out of the contents of your relatively small rucksack for weeks at a time affords a minimalism that most people are not used to, but which is very conducive to a calm mind.”
Be warned. Bennett says reaching Santiago was a “nothing burger” – an expected epiphany that didn’t come. “Some pilgrims get immediate benefits, for some it takes years. Mine was years,” Bennett explains. “Perhaps it’s more profound that way. It has changed my life fundamentally. It’s made me more patient, more humble, more grateful.”
“You can walk 1,000km but when you arrive, there you are. Still you,” adds the guidebook author Reverend Sandy Brown, who’s racked up 18,000 pilgrim kilometres. “On the other hand, if you walk with openness and wonder, if you walk thoughtfully and gratefully, if you take the opportunity to reflect, if you listen to the voice of the road, and if you take a moment to make and love new and dear friends, you will arrive refreshed, renewed, maybe even changed.”
The most walked way is the 800km (497-mile) Camino Francés – in 2023, almost 50 per cent of pilgrims followed this route. Beginning in the French town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, it crosses the Pyrenees and strikes west across northern Spain, via Navarra’s hills, vine-streaked Rioja, Castille y León’s endless meseta plains and lush Galicia. En route lie ancient cities such as Pamplona, Burgos, León and Astorga, plus plenty of pilgrim-friendly facilities and camaraderie.
“The Camino Francés is the best place to start,” says Brown. “It has a wealth of infrastructure, it has a natural rhythm, there are people from all over the world walking there all year long, and there are many medieval landmarks to create a ‘camino vibe’.”
The last 100km of the Francés, from the town of Sarria, is by far the busiest section of the route. An alternative is to peel off at Ponferrada to follow the 275km Camino Invierno, a quieter, if hillier, way into Santiago.
The second and third most popular Camino choices advance on Santiago from the south. The 616km (383-mile) Camino Portugués runs north from Lisbon, ploughing a furrow through central Portugal via the Tejo Valley, Coimbra and Porto, and the vineyards of the verdant Minho. The 280km (174-mile) Portugués Coastal begins in Porto and hugs the Atlantic, joining the main Portugués route in Redondela, 85km from Santiago. Like the Francés, the final 100km of these – from Tui and Vigo respectively – are the busiest bits.
Beginning in the port of Ferrol, the 119km (74-mile) Camino Inglés (“English Way”) is so named because it was historically popular with pilgrims from Britain – they’d sail to Spain’s north coast and walk from there. Far less trodden, it’s a satisfying week’s hike via rural countryside and traditional villages. The 825km (513-mile) Camino del Norte from Irún, on the French border, traces more of this north shore, via San Sebastián, Bilbao and Santander. It was used by pilgrims after the invasion of the Moors made the more southerly Camino Francés dangerous. It’s possible to veer off the Norte at Villaviciosa to join up with the 320km (199-mile) Camino Primitivo from Oviedo. This is allegedly the “Original Way”, walked by King Alfonso II in the ninth century after hearing St James’s remains had been found.
Notable longer options include the little-walked Camino Via de la Plata from Seville, running 1,000km (621 miles) up the length of Spain through the wilds of Extremadura. Or the Chemin du Puy, a 735km (457-mile) French feeder route. It starts in Le Puy and crosses the volcanic Velay and the Pyrenean foothills to reach Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port; from there, pilgrims join the Francés.
How long have you got? For instance, the 89km (55-mile) Camino Finisterre – which starts in Santiago and finishes on the coast at Cape Finisterre, the “end of the world” – makes for an excellent long weekend. If you’re focused on earning a compostela, walking the last 100km of any of the routes will take five or six days. A full Francés requires around 35 days. 
“The Francés is best done in one go,” says Brown. “You don’t get the same experience if you do just the last 100km, which is very different from the rest.” Those lacking in time might walk a longer route over several years, in week-long chunks.
The busiest months for overseas pilgrims are May and September – warm but not too hot. July and August bring soaring temperatures and the most Spanish tourists.
The landscape is very green in April and May. By June, it’s golden. In September and October, fields have become empty furrows but the vineyards are fulsome. Winter has its own beauty but there can be snow, particularly at elevation. Fewer pilgrims walk at this time – in 2023, there were 2,030 finishers in January compared with 69,469 in August. Some albergues and hotels close in low season, presenting practical challenges.
Reasonably, but not ridiculously. The terrain varies – for instance, the Portugués Coastal is pretty flat, the Francés has some steep, hilly sections. However, the biggest challenge is walking an average of 12-15 miles a day for consecutive days. This requires physical fitness, worn-in walking shoes or boots, and mental fortitude. “One day at a time,” says Graeme Simsion, the author and Camino walker. “That’s the psychological mindset we needed to get through.”
Albergues (pilgrim hostels) are the cheapest choice, offering dorm beds and shared bathrooms. Government-run albergues often can’t be pre booked. Those that are privately run can; some even have a few private rooms. Church-owned albergues run on a donativo (donation) basis. 
There are also hotels, hostales and pensiones offering private rooms of varying degrees of comfort, and far greater privacy – better suited to those seeking a more solitary experience. There are few campsites, though some albergues allow pilgrims to pitch on their lawns. Wild camping is illegal. 
“On my first Camino I thought I wanted to be alone for a month of meditation, but that changed on the first morning when I realised that part of the adventure is being open to new people,” says Brown. “To me, the best lodgings are places where you have dinner together and make new friends.
The Camino demands simplicity. As Bennett states in his movie, your possessions are your burden. He recommends keeping your pack down to 10 per cent of your bodyweight. Alternatively, book a trip with luggage transfers and you only have to carry a daypack.
Essentials include good footwear and socks, clothing in high-wicking, lightweight layers to suit the season, waterproofs, hat, water bottle, blister kit and trekking poles (these will help your knees). If staying in dorms, you’ll also need a sleeping bag, earplugs and sandals for communal showers. Guidebooks are useful and interesting. Cicerone produces several pilgrimage guides; Camino legend Johnnie Walker, who lives in Santiago, has written 17 books; Two Steps Forward, a novel set on the Camino by Annie Buist and Graeme Simsion, is a lovely read.
Pilgrims must carry a credencial (pilgrim “passport”) to stay in pilgrim lodgings and to receive a compostela. The credencial must be stamped at least once a day, and twice a day from Sarria, as proof of pilgrimage. It can be bought from the Confraternity of St James (£5) or at albergues on the route.
Probably not, especially on the Francés. Caminos tend to be well marked, in multiple ways: there are scallop shells, variously inset into walls, carved into posts and embedded into pavements; there are yellow arrows painted on everything from trees to rocks to lampposts; and there are stone milestones (mojones), engraved with the number of kilometres left to Santiago. However, on lesser-walked routes markers may not be so frequent. And navigating cities, when real life and camino collide, can be trickier. It doesn’t hurt to have a map or guidebook. If you book an organised tour you will be given instructions: for example, Macs Adventure provides maps, notes and access to the route via the Macs app.
According to Brown, if you’re on a tight budget and you look for donativo (donation-based) albergues, sleeping in shared dorms, with a community meal or a kitchen, you can squeak by on as little as £25-30 per day. That’s a 33-day, 800km Camino Francés for around £850. If you want private double rooms, expect to pay from £85 per day for two. Booking via a tour operator, or opting to stay in paradores and boutique hotels, will cost significantly more. 
There’s a joy and freedom in travelling independently, not booking ahead, walking intuitively. That said, finding accommodation each night can become stressful, wherever you are: the popular trails are busy, creating increased competition for beds; quieter routes have fewer pilgrims but also fewer places to stay. 
“I meet pilgrims every day and I have never met anyone who didn’t get a bed,” says Johnnie Walker. “In saying that, in peak season the ‘old way’ of walking until you are tired and getting an albergue bed is gone. I wouldn’t walk now without booking.”  
Using a tour operator means everything is arranged, so no need to set off at dawn and speed-walk with the masses in a dash for a bunk. Starting later also means the trail will be emptier. 
And there’s no shame in travelling this way. “It’s still an adventure, still a challenge,” says Jeremy Perrin of Camino Ways, a specialist operator that has arranged trips for everyone from families to 85-year-olds. “Having a pack transported can enable people who wouldn’t be able to do it otherwise.”
Camino Ways offers many options. A six-night Camino Francés Sarria to Santiago walk costs from £650pp, including half-board double-room accommodation and luggage transfers, excluding flights. A 35-night full Camino Francés costs from around £3,890pp. A foodie-focused, seven-night Camino del Norte San Sebastián to Bilbao trip costs from £790pp; a 38-night full Norte costs around £4,390pp. 
For Macs Adventure (01415 306213), the Camino Francés is its second most popular walk after the West Highland Way. Its six-night Camino in Style Sarria to Santiago trip costs from £1,360pp including half-board in boutique hotels and manor houses, excluding flights. Its 14-night full Portugués Coastal Way trip costs from £1,390pp including B&B accommodation.
For geeky statistics on pilgrim arrivals in Santiago, see the Pilgrim Reception Office and Solvitur Ambulando.
The Confraternity of St James promotes pilgrimage to Santiago as well as UK pilgrim routes.
To pick the brains of other pilgrims, check out Facebook and Camino de Santiago.